I’m not sure exactly how the timeline breaks down here. But he was definitely grown enough to be wearing a Paladin tier set in BC. And I was like, 14 at that point. Now I’m in my 30s and from the dialogue apparently Arator is 17 years old.
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The timeline is sort of all over the place, but yes, he should be roughly 40 or thereabouts as makes no difference.
Blizzard’s problem is, they want a, ‘younger,’ protagonist for new gamers to gravitate towards. Kind of why we’ve had Anduin shoved down our throats forever now. Arator is their attempt to have a, ‘young character,’ for the Horde, except for the fact he’s not that young.
Long story short, the sort of story we’re seeing unfold for Arator would’ve made far more sense back in BC, than it does right now. Ever since he was introduced in BC, however, they never did anything with him, so they definitely missed the window of opportunity. Now they’re trying to cash in on it, and it’s failing spectacularly.
Imagine what they could’ve done instead of adding the questline for him. Maybe the Horde could’ve been written to show up. Or at the least, Talanji could’ve been involved in Zul’Aman. A questline with Thalyssra taking Silvermoon refugees into Suramar as a, ‘worst case scenario,’ situation would’ve even been great.
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one thing i will say is that yuri lowenthal is masterful voice casting
he really sounds like a man in his mid fifties really trying to sell that he’s 17
“i ain’t that young. i ain’t all that horde, either.”
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Blizzard: “The hell you aren’t! You’re what we tell you to be! Now say the line!”
Arator: “Fine… lok’tar ogar…”
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It’s just so weird wandering around with him. Arator actually goes “Woah I’ve read about the Second War but these old guys actually experienced it - that’s crazy”.
And I actually stopped and starred at him. Because a grown man just confessed to me he’s apparently just now conceptualized the passage of time.
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I dunno that the dialogue is really the issue here, I think it is more the VA that gives him more of a late teen/early 20s kind of vibe. That and some tropes we have been conditioned to see in certain ways by movies like the “Just don’t” scene.
Well it’s not helped that he’s constantly whinging about his old man. And I’m standing there like
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That felt like some new writer at Blizzard speaking through Arator, to be honest. But yeah, I don’t disagree. Questing with him has been extremely awkward.
I can’t figure out what Blizzard’s actual intention was for him at this point. It feels like they were trying to set him up to be likeable and more of a character, but the exact opposite is where we wound up.
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Doesn’t Liadrin have a daughter that just recently came of fighting age?
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Well he spent the majority of his life looking for his parents. That was his life’s goal.
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Adopted, yes. Salandria. Criminally under-used in this expansion.
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yeah but that doesn’t satisfy the writing team’s inexplicable warcraft 2 fetish
turalyon and alleria are the main characters of the franchise for some reason
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Salandria and she’s currently at the Sunwell helping to empower it
I’m still hoping she gets used this expansion more than she has been so far. Which is criminally bare to begin with
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Yeah, they retconned it so elves mature really slowly and 40 for an elf is the equivalent of 17 for a human. Which means that back in BC, he should have been, like, 8.
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That uh. Has some pretty concerning implications for the Windrunner sisters many human male suitors.
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Arator is 38
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Just seems like she would’ve been the better choice here. Arator is a pretty seasoned Paladin. He was in the Order Hall. Has fought in battles on numerous planets at this point.
So him apparently not knowing much about the Light, much less Paladin history even when it’s literally just ish his dad did, comes off as really weird.
It feels like I’m dragging a fresh faced college graduate around. And the elf is 7 years older than me.
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I think its mostly his voice and way he talks, and then also the way other characters treat him like he’s a child that needs to be sheltered. Although his lore video on youtube where he gets all sassy towards his parents for leaving him behind when he was a kid comes across as edgy teen.
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Yes, Salandria is quite young, early 20s at most. She would have still been in her teens when her “grown-up” model was introduced in Shadowlands. She’d be a better candidate for some of the questions Arator has had because she doesn’t have the same history of working with different paladin orders that he’s had, and also because she’s so young that she doesn’t remember pre-Third War Quel’Thalas.
Arator, by contrast, is considerably older than Anduin, as Anduin is still in his 20s, and yet Anduin seems like he has a much better understanding of Alliance history and study of the Light, even with his personal crisis of faith. Now granted, I would expect the heir to the throne of Stormwind to have had excellent education in his youth on the history of the nation he was expected to eventually rule, and Anduin’s always been a history nerd. I just don’t understand why Arator seems to be so lacking in his own knowledge.
You don’t hire Yuri Lowenthal and direct him towards a more youthful performance on accident. One of the roles he’s best known for is Peter Parker, which happens to be something he has in common with Josh Keaton, Anduin’s VA.
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Blizzard’s a one-trick pony when it comes to, ‘Character Progression.’ That trick is, ‘Treat them like a teenager; they know nothing and learn by making mistakes. A lot of mistakes. Very obvious mistakes.’
Case in point, Alleria Windrunner, 1,000+ year old elite ranger, budding void goddess, gets led around by the nose by Xal’atath all TWW, made into a complete fool, and portrayed as an angsty teenager rather than an experienced soldier.
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